I GREW UP with telephones. When I was a youngster most people who lived in the city did not have home telephones. The several phone booths at the corner store served the neighborhood. Later, in my preteens, most families had two or four party lines. If things got dull you picked up the receiver, holding your hand over the mouthpiece, and listened in on the neighbors conversations. By the time I was in high school, private lines had finally arrived. All phones were rotary dial until the touch tone phone arrived when I was in my twenties. I had a small part in developing the touch tone system. See my blog THE 88 KEY ADDICTION.
AS A PIANO TECHNICIAN the telephone has always been a lifeline for my business. I always kept up with the latest technology. I was one of the first people in my area to have a mobile car phone, more than thirty years ago. The device took up more than half of the trunk of my full sized sedan. It required a huge antenna. It cost about $2500.00 to purchase (about $4,000.00 in today;s dollars) and $100.00 a month just to be connected, plus, $1.00 a minute to talk. The expense was justified because it freed my wife from having to stay in the office anytime I was on the road to field phone calls. Quite often I would arrive at a customer's home to tune a piano and they would inquire about the antenna. Of, course, they would stroll out to the car to look at the phone. I would tell them if they would cover the dollar a minute charge they could try it out. Usually some guy would call his brother and say, "Ron, you won't believe it, but, I'm talking to you from a car!"
EVENTUALLY I GRADUATED to a portable phone that was about the size of a small suitcase. I was able to carry it around with me and stay in touch. Once, when eating at a lunch counter, the device rang loudly and startled the gentleman seated on the stool beside me. Upon answering the call, I realized it was my wife. I handed the receiver to the still shaken fellow and calmly said, "it's for you."
IN MY LIFE, I've gone from no phone in the home to a cell phone I can hold in the palm of my hand and talk on inexpensively. Amazing!
